Thread:

If international football is ‘easier’ then every top club player should be better at this level especially if they play for a top nation but that’s far from the truth. Once again, the biggest defining factor is team dynamics and environment changing. When Pogba played well for France, the narrative was that it’s easier to play for countries. Yet, so many other top club players didn’t perform as well from 2016-present despite it being supposedly easier. Now, the same, wrong narrative is being used against Maguire.

Small thread on Gakpo:

I rewatched Gakpo as a CF stretching back to 2020. A massive factor to determine whether a player will be good in a diff. position is how well he adapts cognitively. Despite having some base CF qualities, Gakpo struggles cognitively when playing there.

https://twitter.com/UtdArena/status/1596186198267289601

Specifically, he’s not as good with his back to goal from two angles:

1) he doesn’t use his body well (think about Jesus)

2) he doesn’t scan effectively

When he’s at LW, he has the inside of the pitch to worry about. Upfront, he has both sides and he struggles with that.

THREAD:

Today, Erik ten Hag praised Donny van de Beek’s movement and positioning as the no. 10 whilst also mentioning how he should improve.

I had a look at his performance and noticed a major problem — players not passing to him despite ETH’s praise.

Here’s an analysis: This thread will look at situations wherein Donny could’ve received possession in potentially valuable situations. This is not a thread to show his every movement as just because a player makes a run doesn’t mean he should be passed to. Here, we’re looking at value.

THREAD

There seems to be some frustration/results-based analysis over our game vs NEW, resulting in many of our good opportunities being ignored because “we only had two shots on target”, etc. We actually did very well but just struggled at the last hurdle.

Analysis: A reminder:

Goal
— obvious

Chance
— a shot

Opportunity
— a situation wherein a shot could take place depending on the final 2-3 actions

Opening
— where space to penetrate behind the opposition defence opens up

Thread:

In 215 games with Ajax, Erik ten Hag only coached nine games with <45% possession. His record was 4-3-2 and Ajax often defended detrimentally in them. He’s already had four games in nine with us in those conditions. 4% with Ajax. 44% with us.

A brief thought on this: In those Ajax games, they conceded 21 box entries which is a large amount and many of those games were close to getting to 30. We conceded 30 vs LIV, 25 vs ARS and 24 vs MNC. The signs of bad team defence were there despite winning.

Sancho for BVB but only vs top teams (Bayern, Barça, PSG, Inter, Atlético, etc) averaged 72 off. actions per 90 vs 55 for us (vs everyone). Dribbles: 8 attempts vs 4. Getting challenged? 13 vs 8. Shot involvement? 7 vs 5.

It’s not pace and power. It’s mentality and environment. He needs to start being more aggressive on the ball even if it means he becomes less efficient for the time being. It’ll help his confidence and give him more authority in possession which is exactly what he needs to be effective. However, that courage needs to come from him.

Rewatching the game:

Our team defence was so bad; too many players high up, defending as individuals/ignoring space. Bruno created a 4-4-2/wingers sometimes made it a 4-2-4. Front four attracted to the ball. Midfield isolated.

Erik rightfully said we abandoned rules. This is the reason Solskjær favoured Dan James in big games wherein we wouldn’t have possession; he lacked some offensive qualities but he stayed in shape, pressed well, had good instincts and understood space-to-man priorities. The 3-5-2 was extra cover on top of that.

The majority of City’s early second phase possession is on their left (Antony, McTominay, Dalot) but their late second and third phases often come on their right (Eriksen, Martínez, Malacia).

I can see Haaland actually facing Varane more than Martínez unless it’s a transition. Rodri and Cancelo are their main controllers in deeper areas and both attempt a lot of switches to Mahrez or Silva at RW. Whoever plays at LM for us will need to anticipate those switches to prevent Malacia from being isolated.

Reminder:

All good forwards can get locked up and all good defenders can become BBQ chicken. It’s football — it happens. The goal: how well the player performs over a season. Don’t use single-game evidence to confirm hypotheses only verifiable with long-term evidence. There’s a lot of hype with Haaland and Martínez. LM locking EH up doesn’t mean much and vice-versa. Wan-Bissaka locked Sterling up and the latter went on to score 30. Likewise, EH roasting LM for a Sunday BBQ with extra sauce doesn’t make Martínez bad or incapable. It’s football.

THREAD — Thinking Out Loud:

I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with coaches and analysts in the Premier League and noticed a very big difference in how people in football view player performance compared to those on the outside.

Here are my thoughts about it: A big difference between those working in football and those who aren’t is the former have an understanding that good players can play poorly and even be on bad form and it doesn’t change how good they inherently are. The latter, though, create huge, sweeping narratives on it.

Adem Zorgane (22) is an Algerian LCM currently playing for Charleroi (3-4-3) in Belgium. This season, he’s completed more progressive passes per 90 (8.71) than any other player from the U23 category. He has good size which makes him a strong dueller too. He’s 1.84cm but has a lot of size on him which makes him excellent at winning duels and fighting through contact but it also means he lacks explosiveness to get himself out of trouble at times. Transitions are an issue, too. Something for buying clubs to focus on.

Thread (🧵):

Progressiveness (passes and carries) data for the current Premier League season (2022/23).

• who progresses the most?
• who progresses most aggressively?
• who progresses equally between passing and dribbling?

All answered here.

Let’s go! Firstly, I defined progressiveness as moving the ball 25% closer to the opposition goal. There are many definitions out there but I prefer this one. It was influenced by the guys at @AnalysisEvolved who definitely deserve to be supported.

THREAD:

Manchester United have signed 22-year old winger Antony from Ajax. He reunites with the coach that took him from an excellent talent to an excellent player.

This thread will cover:

— profile
— strengths
— weaknesses
— how he’ll impact the team
— discussion of his fee Note:

It is difficult to explain all important points for his profile, strengths and weaknesses so this thread will be a summary of what I think are the main points to know for each.

These four images depict a GK taking up a very high position during his team’s early possession phases as well as sweeping very high defensively.

That keeper is none other than Martin Dúbravka when he played in Denmark and the Czech Republic between 2014-18. I am unsure how well he’ll do with us but he was a *very* different keeper 5-10 years ago. I have hundreds of examples of him sweeping very high, being extremely composed in possession, playing up the pitch but pass short, etc.

Thread: Thinking Out Loud

A big problem a club can create for themselves when they want to build a title-challenging team is handicapping themselves financially long term due to bad decisions — mainly overspending. Our board are considering spending ~£180m on Martínez, Casemiro and Antony.

Top clubs hire smart people who make good decisions. PSG this summer, Liverpool and even City recently have made some excellent decisions (amidst a few bad ones) financially re. buying and selling.

Casemiro is world class. However:

• 30-years old
• ~£50m
• £300k+ wages
• 5-year contract (30-35)
• doesn’t solve possession issues
• will need replacing in 2-3 years
• no resale value
• is the ‘replacement’ for Frenkie
— the profile Erik wants
• coming for money We, as fans, have recently learnt about the profile Erik wants in that deep position. He uses Eriksen there instead of anyone else when building. He wanted to use Frenkie. Now, the club are giving him Casemiro — different profile entirely.

Ill-conceived once again.

Thread:

In the last few seasons, we have not improved our team defence and it has plagued us multiple times. The two conceded goals vs BRI illustrated this once again.

This thread is an analysis of our defensive deficiencies for those goals. 1) First Goal — Goal Kick

This actually starts from an inadequate goal-kick. De Gea had Maguire to his right in decent space but he opted to kick it long which resulted in a lost possession. This is an example of “not following the plan” as mentioned by Ten Hag post-game.

Thread:

We didn’t perform well for large spells against BRI and because we lost the negatives were voiced far more online — understandably so.

However, there were some really good positives for us during the game despite how badly we performed.

This thread will cover them. Note:

This thread is not a defence of our performance. We made many errors and there are a lot of things to work on. However, this does not mean we ignore all the good things we did. It is good to remind ourselves of that so that we do not skew our perception.

Thread:

Updating you with regard to my activity for this upcoming season. Currently, I am much better than I have been but I still have many bad days; I have been admitted to hospital more than I would have liked recently. However, there is an upwards trajectory even if it takes some time — quite like United funnily enough!

Thinking Out Loud:

If we do get Ten Hag then fans need to be patient. Guardiola, a GOAT coach, even with a huge budget at City, inherited a good team and yet it took him multiple signings and tactical iterations before winning the league. Our process will be slower of course. If he comes to United then his success at Ajax will serve as a loose reference point only. He will face new opposition, a new squad, new owners, new board, new culture, new fans, etc. It will take him time to settle and we should afford him this time as long as we see progress.

THREAD 🧵

Fred performed excellently yesterday and was one of our most impactful players especially in possession. Here is an analysis of his performance.

I will be updating this thread as I go along so RTing this tweet will be enough to spread it around.

Let’s go! In the first minute of the game his role became quite clear. Dalot picks up the ball and Fred’s immediate decision is to drive forward into space. He ends up as the furthest forward player on the pitch.